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Here's what 12 soap heartthrobs look like now

Photo credit: Rex Shutterstock
Photo credit: Rex Shutterstock

From Digital Spy

There's certainly no shortage of hunks in the soaps at the moment, but do you ever wonder what happened to the guys who used to grab all of the attention and Sexiest Male prizes?

Well, wonder no more. We've done some digging on 12 very familiar faces to find out whether there's life after all those sexy magazine shoots and gratutious shirtless scenes...

1. Jesse Spencer (Billy Kennedy, Neighbours)

Photo credit: Tony Kyriacou / ddp USA
Photo credit: Tony Kyriacou / ddp USA

Jesse enjoyed a six-year stint as Billy between 1994 and 2000, but the Kennedy clan's youngest member was only just starting his highly successful career. Post-Neighbours, Jesse became one of the select few Aussie soap stars to make it big in the US, starring alongside Hugh Laurie in House between 2004 and 2012.

You'll currently find Jesse as Matthew Casey in Chicago Fire, but his optimistic on-screen Neighbours parents still hold out hope that he might head back to Ramsay Street for a visit one day. Put them out of their misery and make it happen, Jesse!

2. Adam Rickitt (Nick Tilsley, Coronation Street)

Photo credit: Mark Campbell / Ken McKay / ITV / Rex Shutterstock
Photo credit: Mark Campbell / Ken McKay / ITV / Rex Shutterstock

Adam played the floppy-haired second incarnation of Nick on and off between 1997 and 2004. When his first stint in the role came to an end in 1999, Adam pursued a music career and his debut single 'I Breathe Again' reached number 5 in the UK charts.

In 2005, ambitious Adam went from pop to politics when he was selected as a prospective parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party. Dabbling in the political world didn't last for too long, though, and he later moved back into acting with a regular role on New Zealand soap Shortland Street. Most recently, he's been part of the pop supergroup 5th Story, which was set up for ITV2's The Big Reunion, and plays the guest role of Kyle Kelly in Channel 4's Hollyoaks.

3. Michael Greco (Beppe di Marco, EastEnders)

Photo credit: Julian Makey / ddp USA / Rex Shutterstock
Photo credit: Julian Makey / ddp USA / Rex Shutterstock

Long before the days of Scott Maslen and Michael Parr scooping up all the attention, Greco won the Sexiest Male prize at the British Soap Awards two years on the run in 1999 and 2000. Despite being out of EastEnders, he was also still fresh in fans' memories in 2004 when Radio Times readers voted him the Sexiest Soap Star Ever. Yep, that's right, EVER.

These days, Michael is a keen poker player and his winnings reportedly exceed a cool $1 million. When he's not working on his (clearly quite effective) poker face, he's also still acting and even popped up for a guest role in Revenge. He hit the headlines last year thanks to a romance with Hollyoaks star Stephanie Waring (who's now single again) and talking about a possible Beppe return. Could it happen? Over to you, EastEnders...

4. Jeremy Edwards (Kurt Benson, Hollyoaks)

Photo credit: Malcolm Goy / Startraks Photo / Rex Shutterstock
Photo credit: Malcolm Goy / Startraks Photo / Rex Shutterstock

Jeremy holds the honour of being Hollyoaks' original heartthrob after playing motorcycle-riding womaniser Kurt between 1995 and 1999.

Kurt was killed off after Jeremy chose to quit the role, but he wasn't short of work afterwards as he went straight on to play male nurse Danny Shaughnessy in Holby City for four years. Jeremy returned to the Hollyoaks-verse as part of its 18th birthday celebrations in 2013, appearing as a ghost in late-night spinoff Hollyoaks Later. And much to our relief, the motorbike had made its way to the afterlife with him – phew.

5. Daniel MacPherson (Joel Samuels, Neighbours)

Photo credit: Shane Partridge / Nicole Cleary / Newspix / Rex Shutterstock
Photo credit: Shane Partridge / Nicole Cleary / Newspix / Rex Shutterstock

After a four-year stint as Joel between 1998 and 2002, Daniel travelled over to the UK and landed the role of PC Cameron Tait on The Bill. He also kept his foot in the door with Australian audiences with a regular part on homegrown drama City Homicide.

These days, Daniel is better known for his TV hosting work, having fronted the first series of The X Factor in Australia and multiple seasons of the Dancing with the Stars down under. He stood down from DWTS to focus on his film career in 2014, so who knows where he could pop up next?

6. Richard Fleeshman (Craig Harris, Coronation Street)

Photo credit: Dimitris Legakis / Ken McKay / ITV / Rex Shutterstock
Photo credit: Dimitris Legakis / Ken McKay / ITV / Rex Shutterstock

We always knew Richard had staying power - after all, he stuck around on the Corrie cobbles long after the rest of the Harris clan had been dispatched by the writers.

Since leaving, Richard has proved equally successful in the theatre world with leading roles in Legally Blonde and Ghost: The Musical, even starring in the Broadway version of the latter. He's also played the role of Guy Masterson in a touring production of Guys and Dolls.

7. Philip Olivier (Tim 'Tinhead' O'Leary, Brookside)

Photo credit: IPC MAGAZINES / Nils Jorgensen / Rex Shutterstock
Photo credit: IPC MAGAZINES / Nils Jorgensen / Rex Shutterstock

Phil played tough guy Tim from 1996 until Brookside's bitter end in 2003, even reprising the role in a subsequent DVD spinoff titled Unfinished Business. Once the role of Tim was finally behind him, Phil won Channel 4 reality series The Games in 2005 and played a gay teacher in Hollyoaks: In The City.

Phil's no stranger to stripping off for sexy shoots, but he's still acting too. In the past few years he's starred in Take That musical Never Forget and landed guest roles in the likes of Doctors and Benidorm.

8. Blair McDonough (Stuart Parker, Neighbours)

Photo credit: FremantleMedia Ltd / Instagram / blairmcdonough1 / Rex Shutterstock
Photo credit: FremantleMedia Ltd / Instagram / blairmcdonough1 / Rex Shutterstock

There's been mixed fortunes whenever Neighbours has cast a reality star in a major role, but it paid off nicely when they hired Big Brother Australia runner-up Blair to play Stuart and he stuck around for nearly five years.

Blair turned his attentions to the UK afterwards, starring in The Vegemite Tales in the West End, landing a main part in Heartbeat and also appearing in British reality shows like The Match and Deadline. Since returning to Australia, he's starred in the likes of City Homicide and Winners & Losers, and also welcomed the arrival of a baby girl with his wife Kristi. He also recently played the guest role of Alan Ellis in Home and Away.

9. Beau Brady (Noah Lawson, Home and Away)

Photo credit: Paul Lovelace / Twitter  / @Beau_Brady1 / Rex Shutterstock
Photo credit: Paul Lovelace / Twitter / @Beau_Brady1 / Rex Shutterstock

Who can forget the moment that Noah was gunned down by crazed Sarah Lewis during a Summer Bay hostage situation? Well, his wife Hayley certainly couldn't as he kept popping up in ghostly visions when she was trying to grieve, which was probably quite distracting.

Beau hasn't had a major regular role since bowing out from the Bay, but he has popped up in The Bill, Wonderland and most recently worked on Aussie film The System.

10. Rupert Hill (Cameron Davenport, Family Affairs and Jamie Baldwin, Coronation Street)

Photo credit: FremantleMedia Ltd / Can Nguyen / Rex Shutterstock
Photo credit: FremantleMedia Ltd / Can Nguyen / Rex Shutterstock

We may remember him best for his role as stepmum fancier Jamie in Corrie from 2004, but Rupert's first soap part actually came when he played personal trainer Cameron Davenport in Family Affairs from 2002.

Rupert appeared in four episodes of The Bill after bowing out from Corrie in 2008, but he's since concentrated mainly on stage work and has also built up an empire of pubs. He's now happily married to Coronation Street co-star Jenny Platt, who played his on-screen girlfriend Violet Wilson, and the couple have a daughter called Matilda together.

11. James Redmond (Rory 'Finn' Finnigan, Hollyoaks)

Photo credit: Nils Jorgensen / Ken McKay / ITV / Rex Shutterstock
Photo credit: Nils Jorgensen / Ken McKay / ITV / Rex Shutterstock

James played the role of Finn between 1997 and 2002, but is so fondly remembered by Hollyoaks fans that he's been lured back twice in recent years for the 18th and 20th birthday celebrations.

After leaving Hollyoaks as a regular, James tried his hand at presenting work on SMTV Live and CD:UK, before moving onto regular roles in Mile High and Casualty. More recently he's had short guest parts in Emmerdale and Corrie, but both left us wanting more. He returned to Hollyoaks in 2017 and stayed till March 2018.

12. Chris Egan (Nick Smith, Home and Away)

Photo credit: Tess Peni / Sci-Fi Channel / Rex Shutterstock
Photo credit: Tess Peni / Sci-Fi Channel / Rex Shutterstock

Chris's Home and Away character had his first share of trouble during his three-year stint in Summer Bay, not least when he found himself on the wrong side of evil headteacher Angie Russell. He was also wrongly painted as a love cheat when he took part in a reality show, but it all came good in the end when he was offered a film role in Los Angeles and left all his woes behind.

Chris's own real-life experience didn't turn out too differently to Nick's, although he found his success on US television rather than in films. His highlights to date have included playing David Shepherd in NBC's Kings and Alex Lannon in Syfy's Dominion.